Monday, November 21, 2005

Martha I'm Not

Thanksgiving week and I'm starting to get nervous. It's that holiday centered all around cooking. Probably supposed to be centered around being thankful, but how can one be thankful when one has to do all that cooking?? As Thursday draws closer, I'm realizing why we usually make that 800 mile trip over the hills and through the woods to Grandmother's house (she loves to cook, I don't).

The ridiculousness of what I've planned for the meal Thursday struck me today as I was describing it to a friend. I've ordered a free-range organic turkey, and am adding to that store-bought mashed potatoes, store-bought gravy, store-bought cranberry sauce, store-bought rolls, canned corn, salad mix, and store-bought pie. Good thing there aren't any chemicals or preservatives in that turkey!

Sunday, November 13, 2005

"I Heart Starbucks"

It's true, I do. As un-hip as it is to do, let alone admit, my heart does a little pitter-patter at the sight of that green and white logo. I can think of 3 reasons for this affection: that little mermaid and I were born in the same city, I love coffee, and when given a choice I will likely default to the comfortable rather than the adventurous---this is also extremely un-hip to admit, but truthfulness trumps hipness, so I win. So on our recent travels, the sight of a Starbucks brought me great joy---like a little reminder of home, not to mention a decent cup of coffee.

There is, however, the sight of a Starbucks which, though I have not actually laid eyes on it myself, I suspect I would not be so happy to see. My daughter has seen it and reports it is inside a nearby suburban wanna-be-a-mega church. A church which, rumor** has it, recently spent a million-ish dollars on a new sound system because Jesus would demand excellence.**i have absolutely no proof of this, and fully admit it is rumor, and might be completely evil for repeating it

So my question is this: Why, oh why???, is Starbucks sullying its reputation in such a way????

Friday, November 11, 2005

"I Can't Live Without...."Recently I read an article about an artist who likes to make lists of things she can't live without. On her list at the time were hot water, heat and epidurals. This made me smile...a gal I can relate to. Unlike my friend "M" who squeezed out a 7+ pound person recently with the aid of two popsicles and a hot shower. How can this be?? When I was squeezing out my first live person, I distinctly remember deciding I could spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair if need be, just shoot that pain med into my spine NOW, damnit...if the anesthesiologist's aim is bad, and my spinal chord gets severed, well at least I'll be alive, in contrast to having much more of this labor pain (at all of 4 cm) which will surely kill me. My question is why, WHY?, do I think that "M" did it better than me, cuz all she needed was an ice cream truck to drive by a couple times?? Why must I always compare myself, and come up short? I'm afraid i do the reverse as well, which is really ugly. Either way, I lose. OMG, that's the point, isn't it??? When we compare, WE LOSE. So simple, so obvious, so hard---evidently I'm a lame-o (though not in a wheelchair---thanks for the steady hand, Doc) for not being able to "get this" and get over it, sooner, unlike the rest of you who probably got it centuries ago, right? I thought so.

Thursday, November 10, 2005

I just dove in. Have been thinking for a long time about joining the blog nation, finally did it...well, am doing it. Not much to look at so far but at least I'm getting wet. I've been waiting until I found just the perfect name for my blog, something clever to encapsulate the essence of who I am, and who I want to be. So the last several months have been devoted to that search, with phrases jotted on scraps of paper throughout the house....Did you notice the title I settled on? Yeah, that's exactly how clever I am. The sad--ironic?--thing is that it does indeed capture the essence of who I am, and want to be...haven't figured that out either.

I considered the title "Self Portrait" since, let's face it, this will be all about me, but then had doubts.......asked myself "isn't that a bit, you know, self-centered sounding?" Wouldn't want to look conceited now, would we?

Turns out this search for a perfect title runs in my family (along with other less endearing traits, but we'll save that for another day...or not). My quirky Grandma, shall we call her "Joyce"?, has for years been threatening to write a book. 200 possible titles are on record, but chapter one remains to be written. So see?--I'm breaking the chains of writer's indecision, and moving ahead though undecided.

Speaking of random, two election day results on the yahoo web page yesterday went something like this:"San Francisco votes to ban all handguns""Texas votes to ban gay marriage"Hhmmm....How 'bout if we all just agree to ban torture?? Could we at least agree on that? Cuz really, who would Jesus torture?---gay people? gun owners? Iraqi's? politicians?

"Oh" you are saying, "this is going to be one of those raving political god-blogs, isn't it??"Well, yes...and NO....Raving, perhaps, but really just mostly what I'm thinking about. And sometimes I'm thinking about politics, and sometimes I'm thinking about god-stuff, but mostly i'm just thinking about me...which could actually be the problem, come to think of it.